Author's Note: Okay, for the sake of this story, Shawn and Phillip aren't related. Let's just say Caroline never had her little afair and Bo is not Victor's son.
A tiny part of her had always believed that she what she was doing would end badly but she had always ignored that part of herself. Maybe it wouldn't have ended up the way it had if she hadn't brushed off the feeling of dread, which had been obscured by the immense pleasure all their attention gave her. She had craved their attention, fed off it, almost needed it. Because knowing that both of them were vying for her affections in any way they could made her forget all the horrible things that had happened to her. It gave her the illusion of the perfection she had always wanted for herself. All of her focus had went to keeping the triangle alive, keeping both of their interests in her blazing. She was so focused on turning them against each other that all imperfections were forgotten and disregarded. She wasn't thinking about the loss of her mother, not when all of her energy was being dedicated to the delicate construction of the self-induced love triangle, with her right in the middle.
She had been fully aware of Phillip's feelings for her for a long time. But by pretending not to, she gave off an aura of innocence and made herself appear to be unattainble, which had captivated Phillip, kept him interested. She wasn't stupid, she had known exactly what she was doing. She had let Phillip comfort her, let him close, knowing it would have killed Shawn if he had been around to see. It was her way of getting revenge. She had to have that revenge because Shawn had never had any right to walk out of her life when she still needed him around to make her feel better. She flirted with Phillip but still continued to make herself appear unreachable, never letting Phillip forget that she still loved Shawn.
And all of the sudden, Shawn was back in her life again. He had come back to Salem, telling everyone how he had just escaped being locked in a cage by Jan Spears. Supposedly, Jan had gave up on him and had let him go. Shawn had a restraining order against Jan now and he wanted to stay in Salem, in Belle's life. That's when Belle turned the heat up a notch. She told Shawn that she needed time to think things over and Shawn had immediately asked her if it was because of Phillip. Knowing what his reaction would be, Belle told him yes. Belle remembered the way his eyes had darkened with hatred and anger. But there were other conflicting emotions mixed in his eyes, emotions Belle didn't know what to make of.
After that, the fighting started. It reminded Belle of Rex and Shawn's relationship after the serial killings had started in Salem. Shawn had thought Rex was responsible and no one had been able to keep Shawn off Rex. Belle had witnessed countless fist-fights and wrestling sessions between the two men who were both after her heart. She had shrieked and wailed and begged them to stop. But the truth was, she had enjoyed it. She had loved every viscious, action-packed minute of it. It made her feel powerful, to know she was controlling them completely. They were under her spell, playing right into her hands.
Belle had played them both in every way she knew how, building up one of their hopes, then dropping it back down and going to the other guy. She flirted mercilessly with one of them while the other one watched, jealousy overtaking his every facial feature. She did everything she could to keep them interested, to keep them wanting her. She thrust them up against each other, destroyed the friendship that had been there between them for as long as she could remember. It made her feel alive, it made her feel important.
The triangle was perfect and complete, made completely by her, solidified by her sublte manipulations. Phillip and Shawn wanted her, hated each other and she was right there in the middle, lapping up the attention like a cat lapped up milk from a saucer. She wasn't sure which one of them she wanted but she had still been willing to do anything to keep both of them after her. With the creation of the triangle had also came a new Belle, one that, instead of just wanting things to always be about her, would stop at nothing to keep the attention of so many on her.
She didn't know the exact time when the triangle started to break apart. It was gradual, but eventually, it became noticeable. The lack of fighting, the lack of screaming and the lack of anger. There was still tension between Shawn and Phillip but it wasn't the kind of tension Belle was used to. It felt different and Belle couldn't exactly name how. But she didn't like it. She grew frantic, desperate to hold onto both of the men in her life, regardless of the consequences.
Shawn had been standing outside his loft when Belle had walked into the hallway outside her own loft with Phillip in tow. The amount of resentment towards Phillip from Shawn was seriously lacking and Belle could hear the cracking sounds resounding in her head. The sounds of her triangle breaking, cracking even more. So, she had upped the stakes. She had kissed Phillip, putting more aggression and fervor into that kiss than she had ever put into any kiss before. After that, she had told Phillip she wanted him to be with her the entire night. As she led Phillip inside her apartment, she caught the look of jealousy etched onto Shawn's face and the triumph was back. She was the glue holding her triangle together and she would stop at nothing to keep the triangle going.
She had given herself to Phillip, in every way possible that night. She had thought it would keep things going strong, heighten the anger and hate between Shawn and Phillip. In the end, it had only made her see that things had spun out of control and there was no way of regaining power of the triangle she had created. In fact, it wasn't even a triangle anymore. It was a web, a huge, complicated web that she herself had gotten lost in. She realized this when it wasn't her name Phillip moaned as both of them neared the precipice of pleasure. She didn't even think Phillip had realized he had done it, as it if had almost been second nature, automatic to him. And she hated it. The triangle she had so exquisitely crafted was falling apart around her feet and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
She had pushed them too far and hadn't even seen the repercussions coming. She had been too far gone, too lost in the web of attention and confusion and lust. She hadn't really known who she had wanted, whether it was one or both of them. But in the end, she had lost them both.
After Phillip had left her loft, Belle had practically suffocated herself with her pillow, letting the pillow muffle loud, angry shrieks, letting the pillow absorb tears of fury. Her eyes burned and she tried desperately to erase the images of Phillip and Shawn that had formed in her mind. Phillip and Shawn. Shawn and Phillip. Phillip and Shawn. It couldn't be them, it was supposed to be all about her, at all costs. Their names were never meant to be linked together in this way. She wanted to believe it wasn't real but the way Phillip had said Shawn's name with passionate abandon during their time of rapture had left no doubt in her mind.
She had cried herself to sleep that night. The tears reminded her that she couldn't be like her sister. Unlike Sami, she couldn't bounce back and keep trying. Her triangle was in ruins, past the point of being saved. And she wasn't heartless, she had just lost herself in the triangle. The triangle had helped take her mind off her mother's death, therefore become Belle's life. And now that the triangle was gone, so was her life, dissolving into nothing, along with everything else.
She had cut herself off from Phillip and Shawn after that night and made it clear that she wanted nothing more to do with either of them. She had been disappointed, but not surprised when neither of them had protested.
And now she was seeing them for the first time since then. She was sitting alone in the Brady Pub, watching them. Shawn and Phillip had been deep in conversation and hadn't even noticed her presence. Now they were getting ready to leave. After leaving some money on the table, Shawn dropped his wallet on the ground. Belle watched Phillip pick up the wallet and give it to Shawn, their hands touching a few moments longer than necessarry. They shared a secret smile, their eyes lit up with contentment. For the first time in so long, they looked happy and completely at peace with their lives. They walked out of the Brady Pub, their hands interlocked, as if they didn't even care who saw them. They had escaped the triangle, leaving only Belle behind to do damage control.
Belle was so busy watching the two of them leave that she didn't notice the woman until she sat down across from Belle.
"What's wrong, Belle? the woman's voice was high and mocking, "Are you sad that your little plan has been ruined?"
The taunting half smile gracing the woman's lips let Belle know that there was a deeper meaning behind those words, "What did you do?" Belle demanded.
The woman's eyes were now wide with innocence, "I didn't do anything wrong. Everyone wanted it to end, they were sick of seeing you string Phillip and Shawn along the way you were. All I did was help them see the light."
Belle gave a small, lifeless laugh, "This is so not fair. I can't believe I lost them to you."
The woman shook her head, "No, Belle. You didn't lose them to me. You didn't even lose them to each other. Because the triangle was never between you and Shawn and Phillip. It was between you and you and you. You never cared about making either of them happy, you only cared about making yourself happy. You lost them to yourself. No one else." the woman rose from the table, throwing Belle one last triumphant smirk before sauntering out the door to the Brady Pub.
Author's Note: So, what did you think? Is this not the perfect way for the triangle to end? Well, I hate Belle, so I'm probably the only one who thinks this but that's okay. There are a couple more chapters to come that will explain things a little bit more and there will be a little bit of Phillip/Shawn fluff as well. But it won't get past PG-13 this time, promise. I just wanted to try out a new pairing. Days definitely needs a bigger slash fanbase. Speaking of which, anyone who is interested in a Days of our lives RPG that is completely dedicated to slash, you can join here: http:gaysofourlives.proboards32.com. I hope you decide to join the board, even if you don't want to play any characters and please tell me what you thought of this story.